If by a "Liberal" they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people - their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties - someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad; if that is what they mean by a "Liberal," then I'm proud to say I'm a "Liberal."
- John F. Kennedy

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Chicken Dancing

This is going to go over about as well as a screen door on a submarine. Morgan Stanley and Smith Barney are in the final stages of their merger and have decided that in order to retain all those "superstars" that screwed the business to the wall, knocked 50% off yours and my retirement savings and set the country/world up for a financial disaster deserve AWARDS. They would have been called BONUSES just a short time ago but us whiny common folk are kind of sensitive to the "bonus" word now that we have been totally screwed. They just can't seem to understand why we would be a little stressed over two failed investment banks, that have received $60 billion in federal bailout cash, plan to pay their obviously incompetent people more of our damn money. How silly of us!

The soon-to-be-merged financial giants — Morgan Stanley and Citigroup's Smith Barney — announced the payments during an internal conference call last week, but warned advisers against describing them in terms that would cause PR headaches.

"There will be a retention award. Please do not call it a bonus," said James Gorman, co-president of Morgan Stanley. "It is not a bonus. It is an award. And it recognizes the importance of keeping our team in place as we go through this integration."

Like I said in an earlier post...incompetence(theft?) should have consequences and it sure as hell shouldn't be a f**king reward. Why do they think there's nothing more important than keeping all these folks in place? Are they worried that some other financial institution that is rolling in cash is going to steal them away? Are there that many other lucrative opportunities in the rest of the financial industry?